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A review by gabberjaws
Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Just to be clear; I'll still read anything Silvia Moreno-Garcia puts out. I just don't think this was her best work.
Velvet was the Night is set in 1970s, during the Mexican Dirty War, and follows the stories of Maite and Elvis. A secretary and Los Halcones member respectively, their stories become entwined when Maite's neighbour, an art student named Leonara goes missing, along with some potentially incriminating photos.
The premise was great. The political background and setting was brilliant. But nothing quite... gelled well together. The biggest issue for me is that I couldn't root for either of the characters. Maite was unlikable - which is usually something I can get behind. Heroines don't always need to be good and kind and likeable. But apart from her vapidness and her general unhappiness with her life, Maite had nothing else to offer us - and her character arc went pretty much nowhere. She had no goals. No aspirations. She didn't even stick her nose into Leonara's disappearance because she wanted to. She was just... along for the ride. I found Elvis a little easier to root for but not by much. I also didn't understand their "romance". At all.
It would have been one thing if this novel followed the usual noir trope and had the two of them working together for most of the mystery, but Maite and Elvis only met each other towards the end of the book. The romance had zero foundation and made no sense.
Another issue was that great premise aside, nothing really happened in this book. I think this whole story would have shined if Moreno-Garcia had leaned into the political aspects of it - put the characters in actual danger. Solidified that hey, this is actually pretty serious. But, we never even found out what the photos were, or why they were so important. El Mago's interest in Leonara was obvious from the very first time he put Elvis on the case, and cemented the minute Maite went to visit Leonara's sister. Maite said it herself at the end of the book, "all this fuss for nothing".
With that, at least, Maite and I are in agreement.
Velvet was the Night is set in 1970s, during the Mexican Dirty War, and follows the stories of Maite and Elvis. A secretary and Los Halcones member respectively, their stories become entwined when Maite's neighbour, an art student named Leonara goes missing, along with some potentially incriminating photos.
The premise was great. The political background and setting was brilliant. But nothing quite... gelled well together. The biggest issue for me is that I couldn't root for either of the characters. Maite was unlikable - which is usually something I can get behind. Heroines don't always need to be good and kind and likeable. But apart from her vapidness and her general unhappiness with her life, Maite had nothing else to offer us - and her character arc went pretty much nowhere. She had no goals. No aspirations. She didn't even stick her nose into Leonara's disappearance because she wanted to. She was just... along for the ride. I found Elvis a little easier to root for but not by much. I also didn't understand their "romance". At all.
It would have been one thing if this novel followed the usual noir trope and had the two of them working together for most of the mystery, but Maite and Elvis only met each other towards the end of the book. The romance had zero foundation and made no sense.
Another issue was that great premise aside, nothing really happened in this book. I think this whole story would have shined if Moreno-Garcia had leaned into the political aspects of it - put the characters in actual danger. Solidified that hey, this is actually pretty serious. But, we never even found out what the photos were, or why they were so important. El Mago's interest in Leonara was obvious from the very first time he put Elvis on the case, and cemented the minute Maite went to visit Leonara's sister. Maite said it herself at the end of the book, "all this fuss for nothing".
With that, at least, Maite and I are in agreement.